I had a different experience with sticklebacks. For a while I had 6 of them in a heavily planted 10 gallon, and they got along fine. Could they be like cichlids where you either have one of them or a bunch of them?

I had a different experience with sticklebacks. For a while I had 6 of them in a heavily planted 10 gallon, and they got along fine. Could they be like cichlids where you either have one of them or a bunch of them?

That may be the case. Brook sticklebacks can really vary in phenotype from population to population. Maybe they also vary in attitude.

Yes. Just get a can of spray paint and paint the outside of the back panel of glass. It is pretty fast. Be sure to tape off and cover the other sides so excess spray doesn't get on them. Although it is pretty easy to scrape off with a razor blade. And, I'd recommend painting it upside-down. That way you don't have to cover the top and worry about paint getting inside.

Hate to say it, go non-native and get red cherry shrimp. You will get to watch them breed. Ghost shrimp will have almost zero recruitment, where RCS will breed and produce young. Mentioning this due to your lack of resources due to the rents.

Yeah evil creatures the feed is, give us clothes and a house, let us hang with friends, teach us life lessons, trust us with cars and lots of other stuff. Most evil creature ever lol. On a serious note, my mom didn't know I had another tank that's why she kept saying no to fish. I think I'll get a darter or two

Taping a black plastic bag on the back wall is quicker and easier than painting it. Not as durable, of course.

It was easy for me to paint my 10 gallon quarantine tank and my 56 gallon display tank with a cheap quart of matte black acrylic paint from Wal-Mart. The first coat is awkward and streaky because the glass has no "tooth" to it, but once that dries you can start applying more coats and they dry very evenly.

Acrylic paint has two advantages going for it: it's super cheap, and it peels right off in big pieces and leaves clean glass behind with minimal fuss. A pass with a razor blade can be all you need to get started. "Shaving" acrylic paint is probably the easiest way to undo a painted tank. The downside is that you do need multiple coats to get a nice thick layer of it, and it takes time for each coat to set up before it's ready for the next.